Thousands of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in hospitals in Anchorage and Juneau, but have not yet reached clinics in smaller communities in Alaska. 

Alaska will receive about 62,000 vaccine doses from the federal government during the first phase of the distribution process. These are all the first doses of a two-dose vaccine. They will be dispersed statewide among public, private, and Tribal health systems.

According to Dahl Memorial Clinic Executive Director Este Fielding, a small shipment is expected to arrive in Skagway during the second half of December. 

“That will be Phase 1A and that is slated for healthcare workers and first responders,” Fielding said. “The state has told us that after that we should be able to order subsequent shipments on a regular basis, probably monthly, to meet the next phases.”

The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer is the only vaccine currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the U.S. A second COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna is expected to be approved soon. 

Fielding said that Skagway would more than likely receive the Moderna vaccine because unlike the Pfizer vaccine it doesn’t need to be stored at a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius. 

“They were a little bit worried about the smaller towns that didn’t have ultra cold storage, how that would look for the Pfizer vaccine, so they recommended the Moderna for us.”

About 50 people in Skagway will be eligible to receive a vaccine during the first phase of distribution. 

While clinic staff will be vaccinated in-house, first responders will participate in a drive-through. The Moderna vaccine is administered in two shots, 28 days apart. Fielding said it will be provided at no cost to the patient. 

“I would encourage the public to reach out to their medical provider if they have questions and to see if Moderna is right for them and if they have questions or concerns just to talk it out with their medical provider before the vaccine arrives for the general public. That way we know who wants the vaccine and who would like to decline until a later time,” Fielding said.

Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) is in charge of distributing the first COVID-19 vaccine doses for frontline healthcare workers and emergency responders in Haines. 

SEARHC spokesperson Maegan Bosak says that a shipment of the vaccines developed by Pfizer could reach Haines as early as this week. 

“The vaccine will arrive in Sitka and then be distributed to Haines and other communities by the end of the week. That is of course weather dependent, but we are excited to get the first initial distribution out to all communities,” Bosak said.

There is no freezer capable of storing Pfizer’s vaccines in Haines. Bosak said they will be stored in freezers at SEARHC’s headquarters in Sitka and flown to outlying communities. 

“The vaccine can be out for a short time period, which is why we will be flying the vaccine to Haines for distribution within a day or two,” Bosak said.

The Haines Emergency Operations Center conducted a point of distribution exercise last month in preparation for the COVID-19 vaccine. SEARHC has also been conducting drive through flu shot clinics in Haines to prepare for distributing the vaccines.